


Finding Time Between The Bloodshed

by romanticsanonymous



Category: The 100 (TV), queer the walking dead
Genre: Clexa, F/F, lexark
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-31
Updated: 2016-06-05
Packaged: 2018-07-11 09:42:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,057
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7042960
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/romanticsanonymous/pseuds/romanticsanonymous
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alicia Clark is a stubborn girl who thinks Elyza Lex is a total pain in the ass. But she did save her life, and she knows what she's doing, so who's to say it has to stay that way?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Loose In The Maze

**Author's Note:**

> This is my take on the Lexark meet up, it may be a little gory and there may be plot holes but this is my favorite thing to write about so I really hope you enjoy it. P.S. Parenthesis = inner thoughts

The sun was sinking slowly beyond the horizon, setting an orange haze beneath the blue and purple bruises that engulfed the sky, beckoning in the night. Humid air and thick layers of trees surrounded them, adding to the sweltering summer heat that ran rampant through the backroad they were walking. 

Dirt kicked up from under Alicia's shoes and she propped her bat up against her shoulder, trying to ignore the incessant yapping between Nick and Chris. They hadn't shutup since they had set out. She silently cursed the universe for her headphones snapping at the wires.

Madison and Travis had opted to ransack the grocery store, knowing that walkers were more likely to strike around a public place, hungry for customers. So, Nick and Chris, and the undying wisdom between the two, had decided to explore a warehouse they had seen about a mile down the road, hoping that it possessed something worth their time. Alicia reluctantly went along with a roll of her eyes and the passing of a gun from Travis to Nick.

She didn't know what to expect from the warehouse, maybe just old farm supplies or animal pelts; useless things. Somewhere in the back of her mind she knew that there was something off about it. (I mean, it's an abandoned warehouse in the middle of the apocalypse, something about it is plainly eerie). But it had dawned on her that she was already living in a horror film, full of monsters and gory deaths and all too obvious surprises. 

It seemed now that everywhere she turned there were dead bodies; some splayed across the ground in pools of their own blood, some groaning and chasing after them with outstretched arms and heightened appetites. Either way, the world had morphed into a twisted version of Hollywood's ideal plot line: the living vs the undead. 

Alicia had seen the movies: the cheesy scripts about survival tactics, the fake tomato red blood, the unrealistic happy endings. She knew better. Survival talks were implied, her family tended to keep quiet about things, not sure how to handle their situation quite yet. Real blood was a deep, unsettling crimson; she'd seen enough of it now to be sick of its rich, copper stench.

As for happy endings go... She obviously couldn't foresee how their story would turn out, but she was never one for optimism. For now, it was just a day in and day out prayer that one, if not all of them, would be spared from being eaten alive, or turned into a bloodthirsty, undead corpse. The possibility of death was a precarious suspension than hung loosely above their heads, flirting ceaselessly with their fragile existences. Happy ending? She didn't expect much.

She still wasn't sure why Chris and Nick had been so adamant to search the warehouse. It seemed like an unnecessary risk to scavenge for things that they didn't know were there. She assumed it was because they expected to find weapons stowed away or some other unnecessary souvenirs for them to marvel at in stupidity. However, she went along, somewhat happy to see the boys excited about something that seemed somewhat normal.

As they approached the warehouse from their path in the woods, the smell of rotting wood and putrid flesh punctured the air. When they reached the entrance, all of them paused. The large door was constructed of withered wood, peeling in its untamed solitude. Nick gripped the gun tightly in his hands, trying to contain the way his arms slightly trembled. Alicia eyed him nervously. 

She didn't exactly trust him with a gun, and in his state, he didn't quite trust himself either. Chris had offered to wield the weapon while they were walking, but Nick had declined. Alicia thought that maybe he was trying to restore a part of him he had lost, a braver side of himself that had been overturned by the drugs or the withdrawals or whatever else was going on in his head. She still would rather him not be holding it. 

But Alicia didn't take it from him, knowing that she wouldn't be able to kill one of the undead if the opportunity presented itself. To her, they were still somewhat alive, even if they in no way showed any humanity. And she had never been fond of guns, they unsettled her.

They stared at the ragged outer shell of the warehouse, Alicia grimacing at the rancid smell it put off, and the way she somehow knew that everything within would prove to be disturbing. Chris broke their stillness and pushed the door forward, earning a loud moan from the rusted hinges and a puff of dirt in his eyes. He coughed and waved his hand at his face, scattering the dust that showered him from inside. He shoved the door with his shoulder, finding that it was much heavier than he had expected. Nick joined to help.

When it was ajar enough to allow them to fit through, they all gave each other silent looks of understanding confidence. (I have your back and you have mine). Each of them slipped in one after the other. 

The thin light that still remained outside crawled into the warehouse through a shattered window on the second level. Strands of hay and patches of thick mud coated the blood spattered wood of the floor, squishing lightly under their feet. It was a large room, mostly empty, with a few wooden beams that stabilized the sinking ceiling. Humidity was thick within the walls, and Alicia could feel the way her clothes were beginning to stick to her skin. There was a pitch fork propped against the far wall and a few bails of hay placed randomly about, but other than that, there was nothing. Chris and Nick groaned in disappointment as they took in the utter lifelessness of the warehouse. 

Alicia smirked at their collective pouting and glanced around at the diminished interior.

"Wow. You two sure know how to pick a party."

They both shot her annoyed glares, and she scowled back. Nick let out an agitated sigh, leaning against the wall and letting the gun hang loosely on his fingers.

"Well this was a fucking waste of time," he muttered to himself. Chris nodded slightly in bitter agreement. 

Alicia slowly walked to the middle of the room, dragging her bat across the ground, her eyes scanning the walls, wondering if they were missing something obvious. There was a large door, just like the one they entered through, on the far wall, sealed tightly and barred. But there was a smaller door in the far corner, nearly torn to shreds and hanging off the hinges. Alicia walked toward it mumbling a "look" and gesturing for the boys to follow, knowing that Nick was the only one capable of protecting them with the gun. 

She had her bat, but she would only use it if she had to. The last thing she wanted was for Nick to have to murder someone, even if it was one of the undead, but she knew that it might come down to that. She also knew that she was physically strong enough kill one herself with the bat, but she just couldn't bring herself to do it.

The closer they got to the door, the stronger the smell of rotting flesh became, and she knew that whatever was behind it wouldn't be pretty. She let Nick open it. Once he shifted it, it fell to the ground with a weak thud, releasing itself from the hinges, exposing a metal panel with giant spots of rust. Another door.

"What the hell..." Alicia's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. A door behind a door? This was a horror movie. She almost rolled her eyes at the irony. 

"Treasure room, here I come."

Despite his playful words, Nick's arm trembled as he reached for the door, his nervous gulp loud in the awaiting silence. Once his fingers rested on the handle, he paused, giving himself a moment to collect his nerves and steady the gun so that he could retaliate if needed. Alicia stood taller, eyes fixated on the door with a hard stare, attempting to swallow down the panic; she wasn't sure if it worked or not.

Chris stood behind them both, glancing over Alicia's shoulder, a hand on the small of her back. She cringed away from his touch and turned slightly so that he could see her snarl. He put his hand back down at his side. 

Suddenly, Nick pulsed forward, opening the door harshly, taking advantage of a speck of unexpected courage. 

The smell hit them in one overbearing wave, almost knocking Alicia to her knees. She heard Chris gurgle and hack up his lunch behind her, and the mix of the smell and that sound made her stomach churn in discomfort. She gagged and covered her mouth with her hand to keep from being sick. 

The room was dark, making it difficult to see what it held from where they stood in the doorway. The buzz of flies was the only noise that could be distinguished from within. Nick just stood there staring, unable to will himself to move forward into the horrific stench that plagued the room.  
Chris stuck his face through the threshold, wiping his face with his sleeve.

"We should turn back." His voice shook.

Nick gestured toward the abyss in front of them. "There could be another room on the other side, though." He didn't move.

"So are you just going to stand there and gawk or are you going to go find your treasure?" 

Alicia poked Nick lightly in the back of his thigh with her bat, trying to get him to move though the threshold. He nodded softly and took a hesitant step forward, holding the gun out in front of his face, cop-style. Alicia took out her phone and turned the flashlight on, hoping that wasting her battery was worth whatever was in the mystery room.

Stepping in, the waves of stench and heat rolled over them in overwhelming disgust. The light from Alicia's phone exposed the silhouettes of figures, but the light was weak, making them blurry and indistinguishable. She froze with one foot inside, eyes wide and focused on the outlines in the dark. Her breathing was ragged and loud in the deathly silence. 

Chris stumbled behind Alicia, running his hand frantically over the wall beside the door, earning an annoyed "watch it" from Alicia when he accidentally bumped her against the frame. His hand landed on a switch, and he breathed out a sigh of exasperated relief, sliding it up. There was a moment of prolonged darkness, then a buzz sounded above them and dull, artificial lights slowly flickered on. Alicia slipped her phone back into her pocket, taking in the room that was now bathed in a faded golden tint.

The walls formed a smooth, metal cage, filled with rotting, nearly human-sized hunks of meat that hung just above the floor. Hordes of flies grouped around the carcasses, picking at the exposed rib cages of what Alicia could only guess were once cows. 

"Jesus Christ..." Alicia placed her thumb and her index fingers on the bridge of her nose in an attempt to keep the smell of the rotting animal out. She looked at Nick, who had lowered the gun a bit, his face contorting into a disgusted grimace.

"Some treasure you've got here," Alicia spat sarcastically. He cast her an unamused glance. "Must have been a slaughter house before everything went to shit," she concluded, studying the horrific display.

"Holy shit," Chris breathed behind them, hand still frozen on the light switch. His nose twitched and his lips pulled back in disagreement with the smell. "That's disgusting," he choked out.

"If you're going to be sick again, I suggest stepping back."

Alicia didn't look at him when she spoke, still transfixed on the gruesomeness of the meat locker. He took the hint and backed up a little. Nick took a step forward, but Alicia caught his arm. 

"Nick, we don't know what's back there."

"Take a look, Leesh. Everything in here is dead." He gestured to the grotesque display. 

"No shit, that's what I'm worried about." He suddenly understood what she meant. 

"We haven't exactly been quiet since we've been in here. If there were any walkers, they would've already come at us by now. There's probably another room on the other side."

"That doesn't make it any better of an idea."

"Well, it's my treasure hunt." His grin made Alicia roll her eyes. "Might as well check for gold."

He took another step forward, firmly grasping the gun against his palm, just in case Alicia's suspicions proved valid. She gripped her bat tightly as she followed him through the maze of carnage. Chris gulped down his protests and walked behind Alicia. All of them tried not to come in contact with any chunks of meat, but it was almost impossible. 

The slimy, almost melting slabs were everywhere, so close together that they couldn't possibly avoid grazing the skin of the three intruders. Alicia tried to use the bat to move the rotting specimens away from them as they walked, but Chris was constantly being hit by the pieces she let fall back into place.

"Do you mind?" he hissed.

"Keep up, then," she mumbled back. 

The heat and the smell only grew stronger as their bodies traveled deeper into the forest of dead tissue and bone. 

Suddenly, Nick paused, causing Alicia's nose to land in between his shoulder blades.

"Nick, what the-"

"Shh." His tone kept her from questioning his sudden stillness.

She nervously looked around for whatever Nick had thought he saw. The gun rattled in his shaky hands. The buzz of the flies was deafening. Suddenly, the pieces of meat that hung in front of them shifted unnaturally, making a grotesque squishing sound. There was a low groan, then absolute silence. Alicia could see the glow of pitch black eyes against the low light. Her breath hitched. 

"Run." 

They all turned in the same moment and tried to tackled their way through the jungle of death, followed by hungry roars and the ring of Nick's bullets. The gun was stretched out behind him, turned sideways in his hand, blindly shooting into the undead mass. Adrenaline pushed them forward, away from the snapping jaws of the several battered carcasses that chased them, desperately grabbing at the back of their clothes. 

Chris was yanked back when one caught the hem of his shirt, but Alicia gripped his forearm and snatched him away, pulling him roughly behind her as she sprinted toward the door. 

There was a screech from Alicia's right, and then she was being slammed against the wall, causing a metallic thud to ring through the heat, pulling her arm from Chris's.

Chris yelled after her, but he was swept away with the horde, lost in the maze. 

"Chris!" There were bony claws on shoulders, digging sharp nails into her flesh. Her scream was high pitched and short lived, cut short by the sound of a skull cracking. She stared into the eyes of a man, deep black eyes that weren't there, face yellow with exposed bones, until it's body sunk lifeless to the floor, even though there had been no life before. It's skull was slightly caved in and dripping with blood. Her eyes were wide and confused. (Who killed him?) 

She frantically glanced around, then down at her hands, finding one latched to the hem of her jacket pocket, the other gripping her bat for dear life, shaking relentlessly. Her jaw dropped slowly when she saw the deep, crimson liquid that dripped cautiously down the length of the aluminum surface.

She glanced from the bat to the dead man on the ground, and back again and back again and again. (No no no that's impossible I didn't do that I didn't I couldn't.) Ragged breaths turned into sobs as she looked at the hand that grasped the bat, blood trickling across it from the rubber handle. 

Her whole body shook and soft whimpers escaped her lips, her free hand moving to cover her mouth. Quiet tears rolled down her cheeks, making her face feel even hotter in the course humidity. (I'm a murderer. I'm a murderer).

 

A growl sounded in front of her, and she looked up to see another walker: a woman with long, dirty hair and an open mouth with yellow, rotted teeth. She quickly moved the bat against the woman's throat, keeping her at arms length and from lunging. The walker was stronger than Alicia though, and the bat started moving toward her own chest, allowing the outstretched arms and the chomping jaw to move closer and closer to her face. 

"Please," Alicia pleaded, hoping that the the woman could hear her through the veil of bloodlust. "Please, stop!" 

But there was no one behind those pitch black eyes, nothing to sympathize with the young girl's terror. A scream ripped from her throat, echoing through the metal walls, making them vibrate maliciously. There was a shift in the curtain of meat behind the walker, then a gunshot. There was no longer a struggle on the other end of the bat, and the woman sunk to the floor, limp.

Alicia didn't look up to see who held the gun. She held the empty gaze of the woman, someone who once had a life, who once had dreams, who once had love. Now, she was nothing more than a hollow shell beyond redemption. Now, nothing could save her. Alicia wept. 

There was a series of crunches from within the maze, sounding like the cracking of ribs and the fractures of tender bones. A low grunt followed, obviously from a living person. Alicia kept her eyes on the dead woman until fingers titled her chin up. 

"Hey! C'mon, look at me, Princess, c'mon." Alicia's eyes shot up at the unfamiliar voice. She was met with two, unworldly blue orbs and a blur of blonde hair. A weak smirk glowed from beneath the worried expression of the stranger as she tried to coax Alicia out of her daze. The love mark above her lip quirked up with the curve of her mouth. Alicia didn't understand what was so goddamn amusing.

"If you just stand here you're begging to get eaten." Alicia noticed the accent laced in the gravelly voice. Australian? She didn't care. The blonde's eyes quickly raked over Alicia's body. "But if that's what you want, I suppose I could help." There was a wink and her smirk grew deeper. (Wait, what?)

Alicia didn't have time to process the words before there was a growl from behind the stranger. Without hesitation, the blonde yanked a large blade from a holster on her belt and sunk it into the chest of a undead boy with a filthy, baby blue shirt, which slowly began to seep into a deep red. She pulled the blade out and turned to stare at Alicia once again, trying to pull her from her trance, as if she hadn't just sliced a person open.

The blade in her hand dripped with a harsh scarlet, which began to pool at the base of her heavy, dirt-ridden boots. The blonde was talking but to Alicia it just sounded like a prolonged hum.

Alicia's mouth moved to form words, but none escaped. Her vision jumped and blurred and left splotches of black in its track. There was too much going on, there was too much stench and heat and blood and strange blue eyes. 

She heard the clatter of a bat hitting the floor, then a muffled curse and strong arms around her body. Then, there was nothing.


	2. World Of Gore

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elyza and Alicia aren't the biggest fans of each other. But they just might need each other.

Heat. Piercing heat, right underneath her rib cage. Alicia woke violently, panting, with a sharp pain in the muscles of her stomach, the remains of the nightmare still vibrating against her skull.

She lifted her hand to her face expecting a thick line of blood and an open wound, but there was nothing, just the the swirling patterns of her fingertips. Slowly, she lowered her palm to sit on her thigh, forgetting why she even thought to find blood there in the first place. 

All she could remember from the dream was the dripping of black paint across beige furs and the echoing clash of swords. It didn't make any sense; the smell of sulfur and copper and damp wood still lingered in her nose, and the flicker of candlelight remained in her peripheral. She shook herself out of its appealing illusion.

Her eyes adjusted to the faded white couch she was stretched across, which was pushed to the side of a decent sized living room. It was very domestic, decorated simply. The walls were a rough charcoal, consuming the room in an comforting yet cold atmosphere.

A fireplace was ingrained in the wall to her right, constructed of sooty, grey bricks. Family portraits sat on the shelf of the fireplace, presenting the bright smiles of a mother and father with twin daughters and a border collie. They were on a beach, all dressed in white button ups and khakis, one of the twins holding the dog lovingly to her chest. They seemed happy. Alicia silently hoped that they were still alive. She knew that they weren't.

Faded morning light seeped in through the curtains behind the couch, engulfing the room in a low glow. The room was all too normal next to the chaotic world that waited outside. Everything just blended into each other effortlessly; that is, except for the woman that sat across from her. 

On the other side of the coffee table, the blonde had her legs hanging over the arm of her chair, her hands playing with an open pocket knife, deadly blue eyes studying Alicia with a bizarre keenness. The leather jacket and the blood-spattered pants and the heavy boots clashed with the plainness surrounding her; her entire presence contradicted the normality of the room.

And her eyes were so strange; so deep in thought, so light in silent amusement, so delicate and sharp and full of emotion, and yet shielded. They were all-telling and all-defending. The world would graciously crumble under even the slightest of glares. Alicia thought them to be very unhinged.

Alicia rubbed her eyes and trailed them down to the bat that sat at the foot of the couch, stained with dried, crimson streaks.

She stood frantically, almost hitting her knees on the table, remembering the stranger's smirk before everything went black, and the circumstances that led to her arms being covered in red droplets.

The blood and the bat and the maze swallowed her thoughts and she couldn't stop the pulsing that rang in her ears. Her breathing was course and heavy as she pointed an accusatory finger at the woman.

"Who the hell are you?" 

The blonde scoffed and swung her legs over the arm of the chair so that she could rest her elbows on her knees, leaning forward intently.

"Well there's a way to thank someone for saving your life."

Alicia hated the way the woman somehow thought everything in the whole goddamn world was somehow funny. 

"Answer the question."

The blonde studied her, amused by Alicia's snarky tone.

"Look at you, Princess. I didn't expect you to have much of a backbone." 

Her smirk made Alicia's hands ball into fists.

"But I suppose I should've known."

She cocked her head to the side playfully. 

"You sure gave that walker one hell of a blow. I guess you're stronger than you look." 

The blonde gleamed as she gave Alicia a one-over, almost proud. It made Alicia want to puke.

"Shutup! That wasn't me!" 

Alicia moved closer to the woman until her knees hit the coffee table. Their eyes were locked in an intense confrontation, almost as if the words didn't matter, only the ferocity between the two. 

"It wasn't me!"

She could feel heat pool in her eyes.

"It wasn't me." 

Her voice faded out as her throat tightened, and she didn't speak again to keep the tears from falling. She dragged her eyes away from the blonde's, unable to keep her raging facade in place while the remembrance of a cracking skull rang in her head. 

She backed up and sat down slowly on the couch, staring down at her trembling hands. The blonde remained quiet, unable to decipher what exactly had upset Alicia.

She had just been joking, complimentary actually, which only led her to realize that the brunette was sensitive in the subject of the infected. Alicia's hands shook and her throat clogged when she thought of them dying, which seemed ridiculous, but nevertheless, the blonde took note of it.

The moments passed as Alicia attempted to compose herself. She kept her eyes on her hands when she finally spoke.

"Who are you?" 

Her voice was flat and demanding. The blonde stood slowly with a sigh and rounded the coffee table, holding her hand out to shake Alicia's. The guns strapped to her thighs rattled quietly in their holsters when her boots hit the floor.

"The name's Elyza. Elyza Lex."

Alicia eyed the blonde's hand, considering whether it was a smart move to take it. After a few moments, she hesitantly lifted her hand and placed it in Elyza's. The blonde's grip was strong and rough, but there was a softness in the way her eyes carefully inspected Alicia's, making sure she knew there was safety in this unspoken act. 

Alicia averted her gaze, removing her hand from the blonde's and jamming it between her knees.  
Elyza looked at her expectantly, cocking an eyebrow.

"And you are?"

Alicia shook herself from her thoughts, which were caught up in bullets and cow carcasses. 

"Alicia Clark." 

Elyza was oddly caught off guard by the way Alicia accentuated her surname. It seemed the slightest bit familiar, but she shrugged it off. A toothy grin stretched across the blonde's face.

"Well, Alicia Clark, what brought you to that Texas chainsaw fiasco in the first place?" 

She sat down on the coffee table, crossing her legs Indian-style and latching her fingers together.

"What's it to you?" Alicia spat back.

"Woah now Princess, it was just a question. No need for the sass."

Elyza raised her hands in mock innocence, finding Alicia's attitude incredibly amusing. 

The pet name made Alicia grind her teeth. "You know my name now, how about you use it?" 

"Aw, now what's the fun in that, Princess?" Elyza made sure to fully pronounce every syllable of 'Princess.' 

Alicia just scowled back at Elyza's smirk, shaking her head in lighthearted frustration.

"Is everything just a big fucking joke to you?"

"I've resigned to find the humor in the world rather than dwell on the new cannibalistic trend." 

Alicia rolled her eyes, but subconsciously relaxed a bit in her seat. Elyza readjusted her legs on the table and mumbled some strange Australian slang when her knees popped. Alicia couldn't help but wonder what the hell this woman was doing in LA.

"What's with the accent?"

"What do you mean what's with it? I'm Aussie, it's not that complicated." 

"Okay, then why are you here?"

"Why are you so nosy?"

Alicia scowled. "Why are you so defensive?"

"Why are you so cute when you're angry?" 

Alicia's mouth moved to snap back, but no words escaped. She was speechless at the blonde's flirtatious banter, as Elyza knew she would be. The blonde's smirk was defiantly bright.

Alicia just rolled her eyes and tried desperately to look at anything other than the blonde. She eventually settled for the gun strapped to Elyza's thigh, choosing to ignore the strain of muscle against the dark pant material. She remembered the way the undead woman had sunk to the ground because that gun had put a bullet in her head. The ring of bullets brought her back to Nick's gun shooting into the maze with hopeful abandon. And then her mind snapped and filled with heavy fog. (Nick).

Alicia's hand moved to cover her mouth when a terrified whimper escaped. Elyza sat up straight and eyed Alicia with worried confusion. (I didn't do that to her, did I?)

"What, what is it?"

"Nick," Alicia managed to stifle though the sobs.

"Nick?"

"My- my brother. I just left him there. With all of those things. Him and Chris." 

The tears rolled unforgivingly down her face, and all she could picture was her brother and Chris, ripped limb from limb in the maze, adding to the collection of bone and rotting tissue. "Oh my god." Alicia's voice cracked and her eyes were flooded with guilty anguish.

"Hey, look here, yeah? Look at me."

Elyza moved her head so that her face was in front of Alicia's, trying to get her to look her in the eye. But Alicia kept shaking her head, lost in the thought that she was responsible for her brother's brutal murder.

"Look at me, Alicia." Elyza gently raised Alicia's chin so that moss green had to meet ocean blue. 

"They're okay. Everything's okay, alright?" But Alicia continued to cry, shaking her head, refusing to accept Elyza's hopeful comfort.

"No, you can't know that, you don't know that." 

"Okay, then let me prove it." 

Alicia's eyes grew wide through the tears. "What the hell are you talking about?" She quickly grew frustrated with the blonde's seemingly empty promise. 

"I can help you find them. I'll help you find them."

Elyza placed a comforting hand on Alicia's arm.  
Alicia paused, forcing her body to stop shivering and her sobs to cease, and she gave Elyza this look. This look so full of hope but so full of distraught that Elyza could hardly stand to look any longer. But she did, she held her stare until Alicia finally spoke, the brunette's voice a near growl through her teeth.

"What's the point of going after someone who's dead?"

And Alicia knew that she was being harsh, that she should be thankful for this stranger's offer to help, but she didn't care. She was solely consumed by her brother's and Chris's tendons being eaten away by undead monsters. And even if they were dead, she knew that she would need to see the bodies, gruesome in all of their glory, and she would have to know that they were absolutely dead. She needed that closure. 

Either way, she knew that she had to find them, and she knew that this stranger could help her. Yet, here she sat, staring at the blonde as if she was as bad as the undead, like this was somehow her fault. Alicia ripped her arm away from Elyza's touch.

"Don't touch me," she hissed under her breath, snarling down at the stranger's boots, unwilling to look her in the eye any longer.

Elyza's face morphed in confusion. 

"Look Princess, I'm trying to help you-"

"I don't need your help! I never asked for your help." 

Her eyes were on fire, and her voice ripped the air. She was projecting her anger onto Elyza and she knew it, but she couldn't help herself. In her head she saw Nick's body surrounded by his own intestines, the smell of rot consuming the air. (It's my fault). 

She glared at Elyza. She was suddenly too aware that the blonde had seen her weep, had seen her so bare and vulnerable, had taken her away from her family. (Stop fucking looking at me). 

Alicia pushed herself off the couch, grabbed her bat and stalked toward the front door. 

"Where do you think you're going?" 

"To find my brother."

Elyza stood, but stayed next to the couch.

"You just told me that there's no point in looking. You don't even know where you are."

"I don't care."

"Princess, it's not that simple."

Alicia didn't look at Elyza, but paused in front of the door.

"Really? Why?"

"You'll get lost, and either starve to death or become someone's lunch."

"I'm more than capable of handling myself."

"What will you do if you run into more undead?"

"I'll avoid them." She shook her head as if her answer was obvious, and she reached for the door.

"And if that doesn't work? Would you be able to protect yourself? Would you be able to kill one?"

Alicia's hand froze on the doorknob, her mind screaming with the sight of the bat shaking in her hand, dripping with fresh blood. 

She remembered the way Elyza nonchalantly thrust her blade through the gut of a boy, and Alicia's eyes sharpened with disgust. She turned slightly so that she could see Elyza out of the corner of her eye. 

"I'm not a murderer like you."

Elyza's jaw locked and her glare was piercing.

"We are what we are."

"Well I'm not like you."

"Then you'll die out there alone. If you won't kill them, they'll kill you." 

Alicia glared at her hand, unable to allow herself to twist the doorknob. 

"You're unarmed and untrained. You can't find them if you're dead. Or infected."

Alicia gripped the knob tightly, trying to force herself out of the house and away from this stranger, but she couldn't do it. She knew that the blonde was right, that she wouldn't be able to kill a person. (Not again. Never again).

She released the doorknob and looked to Elyza, who's shoulders slightly relaxed in quiet victory. The blonde's demeanor dripped with confidence and strength, something Alicia realized she desperately needed. She silently decided to allow the blonde to guide her through this new world of gore, if only to find her family.

Elyza's smirk appeared again, her hands moving to her hips. Alicia stepped away from the door, propping the bat up against her shoulder, raising her eyebrows at Elyza.

"There you go, Princess."

"Jesus Christ," Alicia muttered, turning the corner and stomping up the stairs.

Elyza just shook her head and laughed.


	3. Among the Stars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alicia is too easily lost in thought and Elyza once again is the only one who knows how to handle things.

When Alicia had showered away the blood spattering her arms, she lied on a bed that wasn't hers and stared emptily at the ceiling, finding no comfort in the chipping paint. The seconds ticked by in painstakingly heavy silence; she found no solace in it. 

For those few moments, she wanted to be able to break down in the presence of an empty room. She wanted grief to bubble to the surface, to consume her for even just a minute or two so that she wouldn't do it in front of an unruly blonde. She hoped for it. It never came.

Eventually, she broke away from her gloomy haze and stumbled down the stairs, her bare feet nearly slipping along the carpet. She stuck her head into the living room, hoping Elyza hadn't seen her clumsiness, knowing that the blonde would never cease to tease away with her undying "wit."

But she was nowhere in sight, leaving the living room empty and silent besides the crackle of a fire blazing in the fireplace. Alicia stared curiously at the flames, then to the window where the summer sun was pelting down on to the Earth.

Elyza stepped into the door frame between the kitchen and the living room and leaned against the wall to study the brunette's confused expression. It made her chuckle. 

"It's for medical purposes, Princess." Alicia jumped at the unrecognized company. "Don't worry, I'm not gonna throw you in it or anything." Elyza slumped herself into the couch, chowing on a handful of grapes. "Maybe," she shrugged, followed by her infamous smirk. 

Alicia crossed her arms. "Medical purposes?" 

She looked the blonde up and down, searching for wounds she might not have noticed before. Elyza cocked an eyebrow. 

"If you're gonna undress me with your eyes like that, I might as well just take my clothes off." 

Alicia's eye roll was so dramatic that Elyza nearly spit out a grape along with her cackle. The blonde slid the shoulder of her jacket down, exposing her bloody tank top and a wicked gash across her bicep. The stitches were obviously fresh, and the flesh curled around the wound in a deep brown ring. And knife sat on the arm of the couch, its tip still slightly glowing from the embers it toyed with when Elyza had used it to seal her wound. The scar looked as if a doctor had tended to it. 

"I got knicked by one of your friends, if you must know." She brought the jacket back up on to her shoulder and relaxed again against the couch. 

"My friend?"

"Yeah, the scraggly one with the tan. He thought I was a walker probably, nearly sliced me to the bone that one did." She tapped the leather where the scar hid underneath. 

"Chris." Alicia sat in the chair across from the couch.

"Is he your brother too?"

"Step brother."

"Ah, step siblings. Always a joy." Elyza's sarcasm made Alicia squirm. 

"You don't know anything about him, he was just protecting himself," she snarled.

"I know that he ripped my arm open, that's what I know. And no apology either, he just ran off into the carcass-covered sunset," Elyza huffed with a fake pout. Alicia just shook her head. 

They sat in silence for a few moments, neither of them able to distinguish if it was awkward or not.

"Where did you learn to do that?" Alicia finally got out, interrupting the soothing whisper of the fire, tapping her arm where Elyza's stitches were. 

"Well Princess, I've always had a bit of a premeditated knack for medicine. I'm just that good." She ended her sentence with a wink, sticking another grape between her teeth. 

"But you don't just learn to do that over night, someone must have taught you." 

Elyza's lips parted as if to answer, but her smile faltered a bit and her eyes fogged over with concentrated resistance. But the second passed as if it didn't happen, and the smirk was back and brighter than before.

"What, you don't think I have the self control to teach myself? I'm offended, Princess." She placed a hand over her heart in mock offense with a dramatic gasp.

"Oh my god, you're impossible," Alicia groaned, running a hand through her hair. 

"Ah, you love it."

Elyza continued to munch, but stopped cold when she realized that Alicia's eyes were fixated on the bag of grapes. Elyza didn't realize that the girl was just lost in thought, not hungry. 

"Here, have some. Scrawny thing like you could use it in times like this." Elyza tossed the bag into Alicia's lap, but the brunette didn't open it, just stared. 

"Go on then, Princess, they're not gonna hop in your mouth for you." 

The edges of Alicia's brain were being tugged at by the unwelcome smell of rotten meat and the irritating glow of weak luminescence. The thought of eating made her want to be sick.

"I can't," she croaked, setting the bag of grapes on the coffee table between the two of them.  
Elyza knew by Alicia's tone that she wouldn't be convinced, so she grabbed the bag back and began to munch on them again. 

"Suit yourself, sweet cheeks. More for me." 

Alicia slid her hands together and shifted uncomfortably in her seat, her eyes looking down at the carpet but not seeing it. Elyza noticed the off-set demeanor of the girl, so she set the bag back down and leaned forward across the table. 

"Hey, Princess. What's goin on up here?" Elyza tapped a finger lightly against Alicia's temple, and the brunette's eyes flashed up, anxious moss meeting calm seas. 

"When you saw Chris, when he.." she gestured to Elyza's sleeve, "Did he look...okay? You know, healthy? Did he look alright?" 

Elyza nodded softly, recognizing the way Alicia's voice shook with concern.

"Yeah. Yeah, he looked fine. He was slicing away at those bastards, he got out just fine." 

Her smile was warm, and the hand that was extended toward Alicia's face gently caressed the brunette's cheek. Alicia returned the comforting gesture with a small grin, but broke eye contact and leaned back into her seat, leaving Elyza's hand to drop the table.

"They're okay, Princess, don't worry about it. We'll find them."

Alicia nodded, looking down at nothing in particular, as long as it wasn't blue eyes.  
Elyza snatched up the bag of grapes and stood with a sigh. Before she entered the kitchen she stopped and looked back, finding Alicia still staring into nothing. She felt like she needed to say something. 

"You sure you don't want anything, cheekbones? There's plenty to go around."

Alicia nodded, not looking up. Elyza left the room with a half defeated, half irritated sigh and entered the dark comfort of the low-lit kitchen. She tossed the bag of grapes into the lower compartment of the refrigerator and took out two bottles of water. She stood for a moment in the kitchen staring at her own boots, her mind conflicting over the mystery girl in the living room with green eyes like magnets.

When Elyza moved back to the living room, she found Alicia lounged across her chair, phone in hand, and the blonde couldn't help but laugh at the sight. Alicia looked up at her through long eyelashes, annoyed.

"What?"

"You refuse to eat, refuse to talk, refuse to listen, and yet you find the time to check your phone in the middle of the apocalypse. What a gal you are, Princess."

Elyza smiled widely and shook her head, placing a bottle of water on the coffee table. Before Alicia could retort, Elyza spoke again.

"But, if you aren't going to eat, you have to drink this. And I won't take no for an answer, this is life or death, believe it or not." 

She wasn't harsh with her words, just stern, and it was enough to coax Alicia into drinking the water.  
They sat in the soft roar of the flames for a while until Elyza realized that the fire was now useless, so she put it out.

In the silence, Elyza cleaned her guns and Alicia scrolled through the pictures on her phone.  
When Elyza looked up from her pistol to make a crack, she stopped the words from tumbling out. Alicia's eyes were closed and her phone was locked under her hands against her chest.

Elyza glanced over her shoulder to the sliding glass back door and saw that evening had swallowed the day, bringing with it a deep, illusive sky of purple. When her eyes returned to the sleeping girl in front of her, she couldn't help but stare. 

Long waves of thick brown hair cascaded down her shoulders, and her mouth parted slightly with deep, calming breaths. The shadows that started to form within the house made her already sharp features sharper, turning her into an unworldy and untouchable creature of the night. She looked as if she were captured in a black and white movie, forever trapped in the beauty of the ancient silver screen. It suited her. Elyza could only stare.

It was midnight when Elyza realized that she had fallen under the spell of sleep as well, and she woke to nothing in particular beside an internal craving. She stood and slung her shotgun across her back, stepping through the back door into the abyss of night that swallowed the backyard.

She lit a cigarette and stared at the stars, completely enraptured in the speckled dots of fire in the sky. The buzzing of the bugs and the smell of the earth filled the air, joined by the glowing ash Elyza added to the soil of the ground. It was peaceful. She stood there for a while, just watching the stars, wondering what it would be like to be among them.

Elyza was on her third cigarette when the world seemed to go silent. It was far too quiet. Then there was the snapping of twigs from the foliage beyond the porch, followed by a nearly inaudible low growl. The bugs ceased to sing and all that could be heard was the light crunch of gravel under Elyza's boots as she backed toward the door.

And all at once, there was no noise. Elyza reached for her shotgun when she was greeted with beady eyes through the trees, staring back at her with hungry malice. Her back was against the door. Their growls ripped through the air. 

There were too many gathered now for her to take on all at once, so she quickly slid through the door, locking it just before a bony claw gripped the back of her jacket. She slung the shotgun across her back and hopped the coffee table, nearly landing right on top of a still sleeping Alicia. 

"Alicia." Elyza shook the brunette's shoulder roughly. "Alicia, wake up!" 

Alicia's limbs jerked awake and she whipped her head side to side in a wide-eyed terror, letting her feet hit the floor and her arms grip the chair. 

"Get up, we have to move."

"Why, what's happening?"

"Listen to me. There's a garage on the other side of the staircase, go there and wait, I'll be right behind you."

"But-"

"There's no time. Go!"

Elyza left her no room to question, and she was immediately off through the kitchen. When Alicia's eyes trailed the blonde, they froze on the back door where she saw the army of withered bodies waiting to rip down the door and tear her apart. She nearly screamed, but covered her mouth with her hand in time to catch it.

Scooping up her bat, she jumped out of the chair and sprinted for the garage, praying that Elyza knew what she was talking about. 

The garage was pitch black, and it took Alicia a moment to find the light switch in the heavy blackness. When the lights flickered on, all that was revealed were tall silver shelves that were pushed against the walls, mostly empty, and a jet black motorcycle that sat alone in the middle of the floor. Its sleek, matte outer shell screamed Elyza, and Alicia just couldn't bring herself to be surprised. (Of course a girl like Elyza drives a motorcycle, how could she not?) 

Alicia stood gawking at the ebony masterpiece, unsure of what to do except for wait for the blonde to come save the day once again. She bounced on the balls of her feet and loosened and tightened the grip on her bat constantly, trying to find a place for her adrenaline to run its course. 

Only a few moments passed until the door to the garage slammed open into one of the shelves and Elyza came bursting through the threshold, shotgun across her back and a black backpack in her hand. She quickly opened the garage door and stuffed the backpack into one of the leather satchels to the side of the motorcycle seat, and she hopped onto the bike.

"Grab it!" She yelled over the starting of the engine, pointing to a helmet on one of the shelves.

Alicia followed the instruction and grabbed the helmet off of the shelf, turning to hand it to Elyza. The blonde laughed. 

"No, put it on, Princess." 

"Oh."

Alicia strapped the helmet on and carefully sat on the bike behind Elyza, leaving her hands to rest on her thighs. Elyza shook her head.

"Hold on tight, cheekbones. This baby's fast."

"I think I know-"

Alicia was cut off by the roar of the bike as it shot out of the garage, and she couldn't help but latch onto Elyza's hips and grip for dear life. 

The sound of the engine was all Alicia could hear, a loud yet comforting hum that made her bones vibrate. The stars were the only thing she could see other than Elyza's back, so she rested her cheek on a shoulder blade and allowed herself to get lost in the hypnotic beckon of the night sky. 

For a moment, she forgot about the hoard of undead that they were running from, about the possibility of her brothers being dead, about the world of bloodshed she was now a part of. She allowed herself this moment of bliss.

If she had glanced in the bike's side mirror, she might have caught Elyza smiling back at her.


End file.
